Passenger Stafford Shepherd cancelled his Qantas flight and was not impressed.

"Certainly frustrated and concerned because we do need to get back to Brisbane tomorrow," he said.

Travellers have missed connecting flights and organised tours.

"I've got work for three days down in Adelaide and we're all flying in from all over Australia and none of us know if we're going to get there," another passenger said.

"We've got hotels booked, we've got tours that we've paid for that we won't get any refunds, and now even if we get up there we're worried we won't get back to catch our cruise, which will cause us further damage," an American tourist said.

"It's going to cost us quite a bit of money. I waited my whole life to get here; it's not a very good first impression."

Customers suffering

And untold damage has been done to the airline's international reputation.

"This is unprecedented, what they've done, and many people have really suffered tremendously," a Dutch tourist said.

"If we were booking flights again, I doubt if we would go Qantas in the next say three months or six months because we would be worried about it, because there's no real settlement," an Irish traveller said.

"Yeah OK, it goes for 21 days, then it goes to arbitration, so this could go on another six months, another year.

"So you would be worried about taking Qantas's flights. If you had a choice, I think I'll go through another airline."

And those sentiments were echoed among many local travellers. Many are vowing to think twice before booking with Qantas again.

"It has made me think twice because I don't feel that treating your employees that way is fair and so I would think twice," another stranded passenger said.

"I don't really know much about what's going on, so I can't really say but it's definitely pissed me off a little bit," another woman said.

"Normally it's the reliable airline; it's the one that we use because of that reliability. So yeah I guess it would make us think [again]," another said.

But there was also sympathy for Qantas and some passengers backed the airline's stance.

"I sort of sympathise with the company because I think the unions - I understand the unions want to do the best for their members - but I'm sort of sympathetic towards the company because I think the best way to preserve a job is to actually help a company survive," one man said.

And some admitted that despite any inconvenience they have experienced they will travel with the airline again without any hesitation - just so long as the price is right.

"Usually it just goes on the price tag and what the ticket is and convenience really," one traveller said.

"Numbers of campers and people wanting lodges have dropped off sharply since the dispute started," he said.

And the dispute has highlighted Tasmania's reliance on Qantas.

The island's tourism body met business leaders today to talk about how to get people on or off the island if this happens again.

Winery owner Ian Roberts had his Qantas flight from Melbourne to Hobart cancelled so he booked a ferry instead.

"It's all very well for other people travelling interstate, they can grab a hire car and drive from Sydney to Melbourne, not a problem; inconvenience, but not a problem, you can get to your destination," he said.

"Tasmania doesn't have that; the access is either the boat or flights."

It is not all bad news though. In the Pilbara, big miners BHP and Rio Tinto rely on a fly-in, fly-out workforce.

But they have been able to keep digging because they mostly use charters and other airlines to move their workers around.

Rio postponed non-essential travel to free up Qantas seats for workers who needed to get home.